Estimating Demand for a New Travel Mode in Boise, Idaho

The 20,000-student Boise State University campus is located about 3 km from the center of the city of Boise. There is a significant amount of travel between the campus and the city center as students and staff travel to the city to visit restaurants, shops, and entertainment centers. Currently, people make this trip by car, shuttle bus, bike, or walking modes. Cars and shuttle buses, which share the same road network, constitute about 76% of the total trips. As road congestion is expected to grow in the future, it is prudent to look for other modes that can fulfill the travel demand. One potential mode is an aerial tramway. However, an aerial tramway is not a common mode of urban travel in the US. This research describes how the stated preference method was used to estimate demand for a mode that does not currently exist. An online stated preference survey was sent out to 8681 students, faculty, and staff and 1821 valid responses were received. Only about 35% of the respondents expressed their willingness to choose an aerial tramway for various combinations of cost and convenience of the new mode. Respondents were also found to favor convenience over cost for the new mode.